Top 10 Disney World Tips & Tricks
If you’re new around here, Tyler and I have been going to Disney World for over 15 years. We create Disney vlogs for our Youtube channel, we have a Disney podcast (Disneyville), and Tyler runs a travel agency (People Mover Travel) that specializes in Disney. All of this to say: we have a LOT of experience and are excited to share our top tips, tricks, and hacks for you to get the most out of your Walt Disney World trip - and save you money, time, and energy - so you can enjoy your magical vacation!
Here are our top 10 tips to have the BEST trip to Walt Disney World:
Use Disney’s Mobile Order service as much as possible.
Look for signs like this one - it will indicate where to go to pick up your food when it is ready!
This may be the BIGGEST time saver tip we have, and I’m always amazed to see how many people are waiting in the normal line for 20-30 minutes at these walk-up restaurants when they could be bypassing the line completely! Most Quick-Service locations offer this option and utilizing it can help you plan out your meals slightly in advance so that you can maximize your time doing other things! Here’s the way it works:
Find the Quick-Service restaurant you’d like to order from on the My Disney Experience app OR click the “+” icon on the bottom of the app, and click “Order food” and then “Begin Order”.
From here, you can choose your arrival window. Sometimes, it’s almost right away. At busier times, it may be a bit a bit later.
Add all the food you want to your cart and check out.
It’s Disney Dining Plan-friendly, too! With a DDP, when you’re placing your order, you’ll select “Pay with Dining Plan Credits” to use either meal credits and/or snack credits.
When it’s your arrival time, click “I’m here, prepare my order” (or similar verbiage) and you will get a notification to your phone when your order is ready. (It’s usually pretty quick - less than 5 minutes or so!) During this time, we usually find a table, wash our hands, get napkins, and get the kids ready for the meal.
When you get the notification, bring your phone with you to the Mobile Order Pick Up window it shows you on your screen, which you will show to the Cast Member. That’s it!
Bonus Tip: Use the Mobile Merchandise checkout in the gift shops, as well! It will save you time, especially at the end of a park day when the checkout lines are LONG!
2. Check Disney Bus times on your phone.
The bus stops also have the bus times / recommended transportation options for your resort.
Another little-known fact is that you can actually check when the next Disney bus will arrive to your resort bus stop on the My Disney Experience app! It was a NICE upgrade when Disney added screens to each bus stop that shows bus arrival times, but it can be useful to know ahead of time. A few examples of when this is useful:
You are in the lobby and wondering if you have time to grab a coffee or use the restroom before heading to the Parks.
You’re in the hotel room, it’s raining, and you’d would rather have more time in the room than standing at the bus stop. If you see that the next bus won’t be there for another 15 minutes, you’ve got some wiggle room.
You can find bus times when you’re in your hotel reservation page on the My Disney Experience app. You’ll find “Bus Times” (or similar verbiage).
Note: Unfortunately, at time of writing this, you can’t see bus times going in the OTHER direction (from the parks/Disney Springs to your resort hotel).
3. Order groceries, water bottles, & other sundries to your hotel ahead of time.
This is a standard part of our Disney Park trip planning. We have used Amazon Fresh, Walmart+, Instacart, and Water Butlers. Virtually anything you use for grocery delivery at home, you can most likely use in Disney. All you need is your hotel’s address. We always recommend putting: “GUEST: (Your Name)” under the Name when placing your order. (You don’t need your room number!)
You can order this a few days ahead of time (depending on what service you’re using), to be delivered at a time once you’ve arrived (or even slightly before you arrive) at your Resort Hotel.
The groceries will be delivered to the Bell Stand, which will keep your grocery temperature-controlled until you’re able to pick them up. You are able to call down to the Bell Stand and ask for a Cast Member to deliver them to your room as well. (Of course: a tip is appreciated!)
Water is one of the biggest essentials during a trip to Disney World with the heat, humidity, and energy you are using up while touring the parks. We typically order GALLONS of water, which are usually only $1-2. Then, we can refill our reusable water bottle throughout our stay. You could also, of course, order packs of water bottles if that’s what you’d prefer. Either way, you will save a TON of money!
If you have diaper-aged little ones, we typically add diapers to our delivery order so that we don’t have to pack a ton of diapers and use up precious luggage space!
Some other staples we typically order:
Cold Brew Coffee
Coffee Creamer
Bananas
Grab-and-go Snacks (crackers, applesauce pouches, granola bars, etc)
Quick breakfasts (bagels & cream cheese, cereal, protein shakes, etc)
Gallons of Water (+ hydration packets, such as these)
Diapers/wipes
Sunscreen (if you didn’t pack it)
Note: You can even order beer / wine in your order, however you will need to head to the Bell Stand for the actual delivery so that you can present your ID.
*BONUS TIP: Forget something important? You can order items online from places like Amazon and have them delivered to your resort as well! (Think: sunglasses, goggles, pool toys.) Always double check the delivery date to be sure it will be there in time!
4. Go to nearby resorts for a midday break.
Even if you don’t have kids that need to take a midday nap, it is sometimes ESSENTIAL for your party (and yourself) to take a break! The sun is hot, the humidity is high, your feet are killing you… all of this = BREAK TIME! While oftentimes we will head back to our hotel room to take our break, another idea is to head over to a resort that is close to whatever park you’re in for that midday break!
For example, we are doing Hollywood Studios, and even though we’re staying at All Star Movies, we are going to take the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios to the Riviera. There we can grab lunch or a snack/treat from Primo Piatto (the Quick-Service at Riviera), then we can sit on a bench in the shade and people watch. We can explore the lobby. We can grab an iced coffee from the coffee bar inside. We can sit in comfy chairs in the lobby and relax. We shop in the gift shop. It’s a fun way to see another resort and get to relax as well! Then, when we feel rejuvenated, we can hop back on the Skyliner and head back to Hollywood Studios for the evening.
Of course, you can also utilize the buses, boats or monorails, too! One great place for this is Magic Kingdom. You can hop on the Monorail and explore the Contemporary Resort, the Polynesian Resort, and Grand Floridian Resort. (Some people even do a bar crawl between these three hotels!)
5. Book a “throw-away” Lightning Lane.
This term has been thrown around a lot online, and it doesn’t totally line up with what you’re ACTUALLY doing, but the sentiment is there. Basically, with the LL system built the way it is, the desired “Tier 1” attractions are harder to get, and you usually can only book one of them at a time. Of course, you most likely want to ride more than one of these Tier 1 rides, too!
So, our tip is to book something (not a Tier 1 attraction) as close to park opening as possible - something you want to ride, but you can get an early time for. (Ex: Park opens at 8am, you find a Winnie the Pooh LL for 8:05am.) THIS is your “throw-away” Lightning Lane. Then you will also book your Tier 1 choice for whatever time you can get.
On the day you’re at the park, after you’ve reached the “throw-away” ride and scanned in to ride it, you will be able to automatically book another Lightning Lane! The magic of this is that this unlocks ALL the tiers of Lightning Lanes. So you may already have a Tier 1 booked for later in the day, but now you’re able to pick a second attraction that’s in Tier 1 if you’d like. The key is to do this all as early as possible after park opening, as some Tier 1 attraction LLs do run out.
6. Use a travel agency to book your trip (and dining reservations) for FREE!
As I stated earlier, we are SUPER biased, as Tyler owns a travel agency called People Mover Travel and they specialize in trips to Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney. (They also book other locations all around the world!)
People Mover Travel can book your trip at no cost to you, and make your vacation even more magical!
People Mover Travel will book your trip for free and always find the best deals & discounts to ensure you’re getting the absolutely BEST and LOWEST price for your trip! They handle all the details, including helping you plan and book your dining (plus help with those hard-to-get reservations!). They will help you take care of tickets for the parks, help you decide which resort would be best for your family, tell you about special events at Disney, and more. They will give you even more tips and answer any and all questions you have regarding Lightning Lane, dining, water parks, resort amenities, and more!
PLUS People Mover Travel stays on top of all special offers / free Disney Dining Plans that are released. If you’ve already booked a trip with them, they will automatically check your trip for the new special offers as their released, and oftentimes can save you even MORE money!
You agent is always an email / text away, so even on your trip they can help you navigate any issues and answer any questions so that you can focus on your magical trip!
Get a free no-obligation quote here! And again - you pay NOTHING to use their services!
7. Enjoy all of the FREE things Disney has to offer!
There are so many hidden (and also some more well-known) free things at Disney! Here are a few of our favorites!
Signs like this one at the Disney resorts will tell you about where/when certain free events are happening.
Get a free pin for whatever you may be celebrating (birthday, anniversary, honeymoon, first timer) in various places through the park. The easiest place to find them is at guest services in each park or at your hotel’s front desk.
Stickers with different Disney characters on them are given out randomly by Cast Members throughout the park. We’ve even had the kids bring a tiny notebook as their “sticker” book to put them in as they collect them.
Movie-under-the-stars and marshmallow campfire time - All Disney resorts offer these throughout the week. There is usually a large sign outside/near the main lobby with movies, times, and location. Totally free - the only thing you’d have to pay for is a s’mores kit with graham crackers & chocolate if you wanted one. (The marshmallow roasting part is free!)
Scavenger hunts: Ask the front desk/concierge if your hotel has a scavenger hunt! We’ve even discovered one from the Riviera that is a hunt through the Skyliner resorts, but most of the time they are a hunt around your specific resort, which is fun to do on your non-park days.
Crafts, Games, & Movie Rentals: Most resorts have some type of “community hall” where kids can find coloring sheets, markers, arts & crafts projects to complete there. (Of course, you can bring the coloring sheets with you to color elsewhere if you’d prefer, too!) Many of them have toys to play with and free DVDs you can “rent” at your hotel for free.
Disney Play app: Download this app for free to play games both in AND out of the parks! They are interactive and fun for all ages, truly! There are some great ride/queue specific games when you’re bored and waiting in a long line.
8. Book your dining reservations 60 days before your trip begins.
If you are staying in a Disney resort, you are able to start making dining reservations 60 days before the START of your trip. This means that you are able to also book for all the rest of the days of your trip (up to 10 days!), which means you have a head start from others that aren’t able to book yet. We also recommend that you book them as early as possible in the morning to have the best shot at those hard-to-get dining spots. We also always recommend booking the hardest to get reservations on your FARTHEST day out on your trip first, as more dining reservations will be available, since less people will have been able to make reservations for that date so far.
9. Book the earliest flight in, and the latest flight out.
Oftentimes, early/later flights are cheaper, but another great thing about this is that you will be able to maximize your vacation time. If you check in to your hotel at 7pm, you are paying the same nightly rate as you would if you had arrived at 11am. By getting in earlier, you can enjoy the hotel amenities, pool, food, Disney Springs, or perhaps even squeeze in a park day. Bell Services will store your luggage for you until your room is ready in the afternoon. (There’s a chance it will be ready early, although we haven’t been very lucky in that department, so I wouldn’t count on that!) Bell Services will also store your luggage on your final day, after you’ve checked out of your room. This way, you can go out and enjoy the parks / Disney Springs without your heavy luggage, and then return to the hotel to pick them up before heading to the airport! (Pro Tip: Bell Services will also deliver your luggage to your room and/or pick it up from your room at the end of your trip for free if you’d like - just be sure to give them a tip!)
10. Plan for an “off” or “flex” day.
Please. Just trust us on this one. This doesn’t apply to you if you’re going for maybe 1-3 days. But if you are going for 4+ days, you really should consider having one day in the middle where you can put your feet up, swim, relax, and REST. Park days are no joke - we’ve clocked over 20,000 steps EASILY each day in the parks. Enjoy your hotel, swim in the pool, play in the arcade, enjoy the movie under the stars. Anything that feels restful to you! It will make the rest of your trip SO much more enjoyable. And honestly? Sometimes our resort/relax days end up being my favorites day of the vacation!
Have you tried any of our tips? What are your best tips & tricks for Walt Disney World?? Let us know in a comment below!